Extracted–Lilly Barels

Extracted

by Lilly Barels

Buried long ago because it’s easier to hide,
the heart.
When tears and tongue and time
pull in
pull out of the depths.
When a bubbling soul–
volatile,
fermented,
excavates the smell,
the taste.
And though you push it back under
the heavy rock and dusty depths,
the tears you never cried
the tongues you never tasted
the time you never had
is extracted
anyway.